right off the top this morning, we have breaking news for you. a traffic mess on the outer loop of the beltway. all lanes and shoulders are shut down right now between colesville road and georgia avenue. >> that is because of a deadly accident that happened around 2:00 this morning involving at least two cars and a tractor- trailer. outer loop traffic is being diverted off colesville but some folks, including one of our writers, has been stuck for hours between colesville and georgia while the accident investigation continues.

it is unclear at this hour how many people are involved in the wreck. we do know at least one person has been killed. more on this one as the morning continues. good morning. welcome to fox 5 news. i'm will thomas. >> i'm sarah simmons. we'll get more on that coming up in just a minute. julie wright will have more on how to get around that issue. first, let's get a check of the weather with tucker barnes. >> we've got some leftover showers. it will be it us not as intensely as yesterday but on and off all day long as we are dealing with this big storm that is wrapping up to the north. you can see washington east, we are quiet and cloudy although cool. the rain is pinwheeling back towards the washington area. i would suspect that, even here in washington, if you are in prince george's county, out towards the bay, you are not

done with the shower activity yet. the temperature is 43 degrees at reagan national. it is windy as well so bundle up. it will be a cool day. only about 50 degrees. more details on the forecast coming up in just a couple of minutes. back to you. >> thank you. now to our top stories, the man accused in the death of trayvon martin is out on bond. george disciple are man was released around midnight last night in sanford, florida. -- george zimmerman was released around midnight last night in sanford florida. he surrendered his passport and was fit with an electronic monitoring device. the godfather of go-go, chuck brown is in the hospital this morning. a message on his facebook page says he is in the hospital and his family is asking for prayers but no other detail

were given. brown's show at the howard theater was postponed saturday night because he is sick. the show has been rescheduled for june 29th. in the race for the white house, voters are hitting the polls in five northeastern primaries tomorrow. mitt romney is looking to pick up more delegates but has the nomination wrapped up for the most part. the speculation now is turning to his choice for vice president. in sports, it all comes down to one gam now for the washington caps. they beat boston wednesday or they go home. the caps lost to the bruins 4-3 in overtime yesterday meaning there will be a game seven in boston. so far, all six games in the playoff series have been decided by one goal. one more try.

>> fox 5 morning news at 4:30 starts right now. good morning. it is 4:30 on this monday, april 23rd, 2012. if you look closely, you can see the light shining down on the wet road because. i'm sarah simmons. >> i'm will thomas. i guess that was the key thing as we drove into work. it is wet and not just us, the nor'easter seems to be drenching the east coast up and down. tell us all about it, tucker. >> we've got a winter storm watch and warping out to the west. >> the west and north, crazy. >> cold. did you notice that as well. >> weren't you saying it was hot inside. >> inside, the heat kicked on. it was a little aggressive but

we'll take it. >> rain showers continue across parts of the region and out to the west. we go to the radar. you can see it is still raining out to the west. you notice the megs is west to east now so the area of low pressure has gotten north of us. -- you notice the direction is west to east now so the area of low pressure has gotten north of us. there will be periods of showers and you can see the showers continue west of the city as we watch the storm wrap up. it will be cool the next couple of days. our highs only about 50 degrees so about 20 degrees below normal. things will transition back to near normal during the middle of the week. we'll have highs back into the upper 60s by wednesday. a couple of cool days but needed the rain yesterday.

picked up about 1 1/4 inches at reagan national. >> thank you. let's focus now on the roads. more on the maynor traffic alert on the outer loop of the beltway. all lanes and shoulders are shut down between colesville road and georgia avenue. >> a deadly wreck involving two cars and a tractor-trailer happened about 2:00 this morning. outer loop traffic is diverted off at colesville road. some drivers have been stuck for hours now. let's go to julie wright to help commuter get around this mess. >> we can see footage from that. a tractor-trailer involved and two other vehicles. it is a fatal wreck that remains under investigation until further notice. this will impact our commute. if you travel this stretch of the beltway, you know it slows become up past the ikea. this morning with an ongoing investigation, can you expect this top stretch of the beltway to be gridlocked early and for

quite some time. this is the outer loop at 29. out are loop, yes, they are diverting traffic at 29 but don't even go that far. get off at university boulevard. take university boulevard up to georgia avenue. randolph road is an option. you guys coming out of prince george's county may want to stick with 410. use that as an alternative to get you underneath or above the beltway. this outer loop already gridlocked here approaching 29. icc, that is an option for you as well. if you do not have the pass, can you travel the icc. they will send you the little fee in the mail. keep an eye out for that. that is an option for you guys traveling over to 270. that's a check of your fox 5 on-time traffic. >> thank you. new this morning, an update

on a case being closely followed across the nation. >> george zimmerman was released on bond around midnight last night. melanie alnwick joins us now in studio with the latest on this. >> reporter: good morning. there were no protesters, no questions shouted at zimmerman as he walked out of the seminole county jail. it was a very low-key event given all the attention this case has grabbed. george zimmermaning out of jail wearing a brown jacket and blue jeans, he left with several paper bags containing his belongings. he walked to i awhite a-- for a white suv, got in the back and paid no attention to those waiting outside. zimmerman's ultimate destination is being can't a secret for his safety. >> we have several options

where i can be. i want to be sure wherever we place him, he is cure. there are a lot of welled-up emotions in this case and i do not want them overflowing onto george before all the facts are known. there are also concerns about the gps mop are toking program as well. not concerns with getting it in place. we've got to meet with the officer. all the equipment has to be tested out. nothing unusual but he has to work through that process as well. >> reporter: zimmerman had to put up 10% of the $150,000 bond that. equals $15,000. he must now observe a strict 7:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. curfew. zimmer map's gps device will be monitored by the seminole county sheriff's office and seminole county probation. >> thank you. the godfather of go-go is

in the hospital this morning. a message on chuck brown's facebook page says he is in the hospital and prayers are asked for him. at major new development is expected in a murder case that gripped the d.c. area nearly 30 years ago. seven men convicted of raping and killing katherine fuller book in 1984 could receive new trials. their attorneys want a chance to examine evidence they say wasn't available during the first trials. fuller was a 48-year-old mother of six. she was attacked in her northeast neighborhood. police chargeed a group of men. a suspect accused of calling a marine in southeast early saturday morning is due in court today. police say 20-year-old michael potts stabbed 23-year-old philip bushong in the chest. police are investigating witness claims that a gay slur

was said just before the stabbing. a d.c. businessman under investigation for campaign contributions has landed a multimillion-dollar job contract. jfery thompson is lined up to do audit work in the u.s. virgin islands. -- jeffrey thompson. he has given campaign funds to the delegate for the virgin island in congress. his contract there is worth more than $6.3 million from the island's department of education. the secret service confirms a 12th employee is now came indicated in the prostitution scandal rocking the agency. we learned that agent was staying at the hilton hotel in colombia where president obama later stayed for a summitt. another eleven employees stayed at a different hotel. >> we don't know at this point what that 12th agent is being charged with and why he has been put on administrative leave. but now you are into the hotel

where the president of the united states was going to stay. it just gets more troubling. >> there is no evidence the president's security was compromised because of the prostitution activity. so far, six secret service members have lost their jobs. five are on leave and one has been cleared. primaries in five states tomorrow. voters in connecticut, delaware, new york, pennsylvania and rhode island will all head to the polls. former massachusetts governor mitt romney is the presumptive republican nominee. and now pundits are turning to the question of his vp candidate. florida senator marco rubio and former florida governor jeb bush have beth said they don't want the job and then there is indiana governor mitch daniels. >> you'll remember what william f. buckley said and they asked him what he would do if he won. he said demand a recount.

i think i would demand reconsideration. >> reporter: karl rove says a vp choice does not have much impact on the race. a little girl was supposed to be sound asleep in her bed. when her parents went to wake her, she wasn't there. the latest on the search for this missing 6-year-old. ♪

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a french socialist beats french president nicholas sarkozy and now faces a challenge in a runoff vote. the president there has been trailing to the socialist candidate and is expected to lose in the second round no n. two weeks. the biggest surprise yesterday was the strong showing of the far right candidate who ran on the anti-immigrant platform. john edwards' trail for

alleged campaign finance violations begins today. he is accused in accepting nearly $1 million in illegal contributions during his 2008 bid for president. edwards' defense lawyers plan to argue much of the money was siphoned off but a trusted aide used to build an expensive home. the search for the remains of a six-year-old boy who vanished more than 30 years ago is expected to resume today. the plan is to dig up a basement floor at a build in manhattan's soho neighborhood. it was put on hold yesterday partly because heavy rain may have caused flooding o saturday, a bloody stain was detected in the basement. a handy man was using the structure as a work space back in 1979 when etan petz disappeared. nearly 200 law enforcement

agent are searching for this little girl in arizona. tucson police say she has been missing since friday night. she was last seen going off to bed. her parents say that, when they went to wake her up the next morning, she was gone. police say they have not issued an amber alert because they don't have a suspect. battle lines drawn at a megachurch here in our area. coming up next on fox 5 morning news. >> up next, the pastor fired from the church that his parents founded. we'll tell you what is at the center of the controversy. >> plus we are checking that traffic on the beltway this morning and a check on the weather when we come back. ♪ beth! hi! looking good. you've lost some weight. thanks. you noticed. these clothes are too big, so i'm donating them. how'd you do it? eating right -- whole grain.

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a live look right now at i- 95 at u.s. 29. all lanes and shoulders are shut down between colesville road and georgia avenue after a deadly accident. we'll continue to update you on this situation but a lot of folk obviously being delayed here. >> this is the beltway shot. we will check in with julie in just a second to get an update on how to get around that if your travels are taking you that way.

if you can get around the rain, there is really no way you can because it seems like you have blanketed the area. >> that's right. you can't avoid the rain this morning. particularly out to the west, it is still raining in spots. our clouds will continue to stick around today and a little breezy as the nor'easter pushes to the north of us. could be worse. it could be snowing. >> glad i'm not north of near. >> you get into pennsylvania and even western maryland, we have a winter storm warning in effect. it is a combination of the snow and the leaves have come out on the trees and they're concerned we'll lose a lot of branches. >> looking at a lot of the videos from places to the east, it seems like we haven't been getting the wind they have. or should we expect that? >> we've had breezes to about 25 or 30 miles per hour but you're right, it is not dangerous winds around here. it continues to shower particularly to the city and

west and to the north out towards leesburg and reston. still some pretty good showers. this is all pinwheeling back to the east. we're not done with the rain showers yet. not going to be as intense or as lengthy where it pretty much rained all day. i think the rain showers will have a tendency to wind down during the day. we have a wind chill in the 30s so it is on the chilly side as you start your day. let's go to the next radar. you can see most of the activity now has lifted off to the north and east. still heavy rain into southern new england, into connecticut and up towards providence and boston. they are still getting some heavy rain. then the wrap around moisture, the back side of the low is still impacting us. so we'll continue to be deal with the rain showers on and off today and it will be transitioning into the winter weather out to the west, not here in washington. but there could be a few flakes flying as close as hagerstown or out towards winchester,

martinsburg, you might see a few snow showers mixing in. temperature will be well above 32 so it won't stick but something to talk about at the end of april. >> i saw some video with salt being laid out next to potting soil. >> pretty funny. >> and little flowers planted right next to them. >> i'll have the five-day forecast coming up and things get better by wednesday and thursday. >> thank you. let's get a check of the on- time traffic. i know you are keeping an eye on the situation on the beltway. >> it's crash which occurred back in the 2:00 hour involving a tractor-trailer and two other vehicles. it is a fatal crash which remains under investigate until further notice. there is a fuel spill involved in this as well. one of our own writers and producers is stuck in the backup. for a while, they were not diverting traffic off the beltway. now they are so that is good news f you know people who travel about 2:00 in the morning, they are probably stuck on the beltway between colville road and georgia.

they are diverting traffic off at 29. they are diverting effect off at 29. from there, can you ride the ramp southbound to dale drive and head over towards georgia avenue. go north up towards georgia. you have a couple of options there. better bet would be to avoid this delay which is stacking up before colesville road. use university boulevard over to georgia. randolph road is an option. you guys coming in out of baltimore through columbia and jessup may just want to bail out early, pick up the icc and use that as the workaround. we do have a couple of options for you. you do not want to commit to the beltway. you guys coming in out of largo, greenbelt, you may want to head north and use the icc as the alternative route to avoid. this the investigation will be lengthy. it will be with us throughout the morning commute. plan your trip accordingly. the inner loop remains open leaving 270 headed around

towards route 1. that's a check of your fox 5 on-ti the pas prince george's county church has been fired by the board that governs his congregation. jericho steve praise church in lappedover revoked pastor joe peebles membership. the board says he was trying to run a for-profit company from the church. now, he is holding competing services at a hotel in carrollton. >> it hurts. it hurts really bad. and it hurts to see the one you love the most have this kind of pain. >> peebles hasn't been legally charged with any wrongdoing. his parents founded jericho city of praise. when his mother died, she left control of the church to the board. when you think of the city of seattle, what is one of the first things that come to mind

other than the rainy weather? >> space needle. >> starbucks. >> that too. >> up next, we'll tell you why that famous tower is at the center of a huge celebration. stay with us. [ female announcer ] with xfinity, you can always expect more. like more on demand shows and movies than ever. and more ways to discover them too. plus more speed from america's fastest internet provider. so you can run more devices at the same time. ♪ feel a firework [ female announcer ] and best of all, it keeps getting better.

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it is the attraction that put seat on the map. no, not the firstster balks coffee house. it is this, the space needle. >> the famous tower along with the world's fair are celebrating 50 years of wowing visitors. we have a report. ave a report. >> reporter: it is a party 50 years in the making. the world's fair was a celebration of the future and that future is now. >> for today, let's give all the credit for seattle's great reputation in the world to this, to the seattle's world's fair in 1962. i think it started it all. >> reporter: but the shining

star of the show then and now still towers over us all. >> it is an icon absolutely. >> first thing you think of is like seattle. when i take pictures, i always got to get the space need not shot. >> the space needle has to be there, the mountains. it's seattle. >> reporter: reaching 605 feet into the sky, the 41-second ride to the top, the space needle has always been an attraction o its birthday, even mother so since the price is the same as it was in 1962. >> just a dollar elevator ride. >> we took a bus to come up here. >> a dollar. >> you didn't beat the ticket price. >> i was born in northgate hospital 50 years ago today. his mother said the family had planed a trip to seattle to be at the opening day of the fair but michael had other ideas. >> i was laboring that day you could say having this little baby of our family. >> reporter: michael says

having the space needle in his backyard growing up sparked his interest in the future and science and let him to a career as an engineer. >> it was very unique and exciting. >> reporter: frank alberty already had a year which he was brought in on the construction of the space needle. he still considers it a marvel of the modern world. >> it put us on the map. it is not the eiffel tower. it's even better. >> very cool. >> love to visit that. have you been there? >> i have been there. it was actually a beautiful day when i was there, shockingly. >> probably quite a view from up there. >> it is now win or go home for the washington caps. another overtime thriller. >> up next, we'll hear from some fired-up fans from the caps and the bruins. and they now face a game seven. ♪

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to sports now and to hockey t all comes down to one game for the washington caps, game seven wednesday night at boston. >> the caps lost to the bruins 4-3 in overtime yesterday. they trailed late in the third period when alex ovechkin tied it up with a goal off the face- off. bruins won it three minutes into overtime off a turnover. painful, painful loss. sports bars near the verizon crpt are were packed with the hockey fans hoping the caps would clinch the playoff series yesterday. >> there were also a few boston supporters in the crowd. audrey barnes was there at red line on g street northwest. >> reporter: you just heard the collective sound of disappointed caps fans. >> he scores! >> reporter: when boston wins in sudden death forcing game seven in the stanley cup

playoff. it seems everyone had an opinion about how the caps let this one slip away. >> sudden death is always tough. >> what happened is holtby came a little too far out of. too far out. if you're in the goal, stay in the goal. >> it was just loose passing, trying to get out of the zone. they made a costly turnover and boston brought it to us at the end. that was t. >> reporter: the bruins fans in the crowd could hardly contain themselves. >> i don't know, any way you look at it, it's been a great series. you got to love my bruins. >> i live here for work and school but my heart is in massachusetts always. >> it was a good game for you. >> it